This is a collection of news about border issues, particularly those seen from Arizona and regarding the right to keep and bear arms. Sources often include Mexican media. It's often interesting to see how different the view is from the south.
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Monday, October 17, 2011

AZMEX UPDATE 17-10-11

AZMEX UPDATE 17 OCT 2011

Quote of the year: "So the temptation for people to defend themselves is growing." Peter Harling, a Damascus-based expert with the International Crisis Group.

The area around the Atascosa Lookout west of Nogales and the Atascosa Lookout Trail from Forest Road 39 to the Atascosa Fire Lookout have been temporarily closed.The Coronado National Forest said the closure is meant to allow for public safety while stabilization work is completed on structures damaged during the Murphy Complex wildfire. The closure is in effect until Oct. 31 or rescinded, whichever is earlier.

For more information, contact the Nogales Ranger District Office at (520) 281-2296.

Note: locals will remember the family has been fighting this for a long time

Social activist Julian LeBaron said that development and economic growth in Northern Mexico is based on the actions of the drug trade, so that by getting money in this way have succeeded in pushing aside another economy that sustains much of the gains in the north.

This was declared in the Government Palace, before going to the governor, Cesar Duarte Jaquez to discuss some issues concerning social justice, after participating in several events with Javier Sicilia.

"Declare war on drugs is actually declare war on the economy of northern Mexico, because for many years has been a source of income that has not been able to get on the other side," he said.

On the other hand, he said that the time is right for society at large to wake up and become aware of errors being committed and find a solution, not only government but the citizens themselves.

Incident commander Mark South stands before a mountainside scorched by the Murphy Fire.The man suspected of setting a distress fire that blew out of control and became the Murphy Complex Fire was an illegal alien from Toluca, Mexico, and the federal government doesn't think you have a right to know his name.

The fire began on May 30 and continued through mid-June, burning 68,000 acres, most in the Coronado National Forest north and west of Nogales. At one point, the Murphy Fire, which merged with the Pajarita Fire on June 5, threatened Rio Rico, as well as homes in Aliso Springs west of Interstate 19 near Tubac.

The Tucson Weekly reported on the fire on June 30 ("Arizona Burning"), quoting incident commander Mark South, a well-known wildlands firefighter. The paper sought additional information through a Freedom of Information Act request, and much of the information we received tracks with what we already reported.

But the documents obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection did add a few details. They state that at 2:30 p.m. on May 30, the pilot of a Forest Service helicopter responding to a fire southeast of Bear Grass, west of Arivaca, "observed a subject waving in an attempt to get the pilot's attention."

South previously told the Weekly that the man admitted setting the fire, and that Border Patrol agents on the scene believed that he'd been traveling with a group of 10 or 12. South added that agents pulled out several others who needed medical attention.

Border Patrol arrived and "determined the subject to be an illegal alien and suffering the effects of dehydration." The man said he'd been without water for two days.

The Border Patrol memos make no mention of a confession by the man who flagged down the chopper. But they state that given his proximity to the fire, "the subject will be held pending a possible interview by Forest Service law enforcement officers."

The interview took place at University Physicians Hospital (Kino) the following day, after which Forest Service officers opted not to pursue charges. On June 2, the man was "declared fit for travel incarceration, released from Kino Hospital and transported to the Tucson Coordination Center for processing."

A Phoenix man has been arrested after 53 pounds of marijuana were found in his car following a police chase.The Pinal County Sheriff's Office said that a deputy on patrol Monday morning on Interstate 8 in Casa Grande tried to pull over an unusually slow car that was clocked at 59 mph in a 75 mph zone.The sheriff's office says the driver pulled over, but then sped away into the desert when the deputy approached him.The deputy called for backup and saw the man jump out of his moving vehicle about 100 yards away from the interstate, jump a barbed-wire fence and continue running.The deputy found the marijuana in the car, and backup deputies found and arrested the man, identified as 26-year-old Jose Ernesto Garcia- Reyes of Phoenix. He does not yet have a lawyer.Garcia-Reyes faces charges of drug possession, transporting marijuana for sale and unlawful flight.